The Women by Kristin Hannah

 "Women can be heroes."

The first part:

"Frankie had never thought about nurses in Vietnam; the newspapers never mentioned any women. Certainly no one talked about any women at war. ... But could she? Really? ... How did you know if you had the strength and courage for a thing like that? ... She could earn her place on the heroes' wall, and not for marrying well. For saving lives in wartime."

 The second part: 

"She'd joined the Army to find her brother and found herself instead; in war, she'd found out who she really was and who she wanted to be, and as tired as she was of all the death and destruction, she was also more than a little afraid to go home. What would life look like stateside?" 

My thoughts:  Frances Grace McGrath's journey from her quiet, well-bred life on Coronado Island, California, to hot, steamy and war-torn Vietnam is both powerful and poignant. Dealing with the wounded and other horrific aspects of war is hard enough, but coming home is even harder for Frankie where she faces hostility, indifference and her own PTSD. Her strength and courage is tested at every turn. As is her heart. I found her to be a remarkable and memorable heroine. And Hannah's writing is very compelling. I liked getting to see the Vietnam War and its aftermath from the viewpoint of a combat nurse. (Certain parts really reminded me of that TV show China Beach, which I loved.) This novel is a moving tribute to all the brave women who served in Vietnam, and to the unspoken struggles they faced when they came home. 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Happy Reading!

 

From the I Shelf...

There's slim pickings on the I shelf at my library, especially if you're not interested in reading a book by Greg Iles or John Irving. Which I'm kind of not. So when I spotted a thin volume on the bottom shelf, the very last book before the names switched from I to J, I knew I'd found my book.

Title:  Beasts of No Nation

Author:  Uzodinma Iweala

This is the story of a young West African boy named Agu who is forced to become a soldier when his country is torn apart by war. It's a heartbreaking and powerful account of a child soldier who once loved going to school and reading the Bible and who now must kill...and kill again. I couldn't put it down. Here's a taste of this unforgettable novel:

"So we were playing all this game then and thinking that to be a soldier was to be the best thing in the world because gun is looking so powerful and the men in movie are looking so powerful and strong when they are killing people, but I am knowing now that to be a soldier is only to be weak and not strong, and to have no food to eat and not to eat whatever you want, and also to have people making you do thing that you are not wanting to do and not to be doing whatever you are wanting which is what they are doing in movie. But I m only knowing this now because I am soldier now."

"All we are knowing is that, before the war we are children and now we are not."

"Time is passing. Time is not passing. Day is changing to night. Night is changing to day. How can I know what is happening? It is like one day everything is somehow okay even if we are fighting war, but the next day we are killing killing and looting from everybody. How can I know what is happening to me? How  can I know?" 

This is a tough read:  haunting and sad and mesmerizing all at the same time. Iweala does a masterful job of portraying the brutality of war along with the hopes and fears, enthusiasm, confusion, horror  and guilt of those who fight in it. And all I can say is, "Wow." I'm glad I found this one on the I shelf.

Happy Reading!